All gifts from a friend who just holidayed in Kathmandu. I directed her to some shops and requested she buy teas from these estates. She met the owner of Jun Chiyabari who insisted on her buying me a selection of things. She will be passing me the info and I will pass it on to you. Always good to know a supplier in the country of origin.

Tead Off wrote:All gifts from a friend who just holidayed in Kathmandu. I directed her to some shops and requested she buy teas from these estates. She met the owner of Jun Chiyabari who insisted on her buying me a selection of things. She will be passing me the info and I will pass it on to you. Always good to know a supplier in the country of origin.

According to the owner of Jun Chiyabari, none of it is sold in Nepal, all exported. Of course they keep back some stuff as my friend was able to buy directly from the owner, but it is not available on the retail level.

The Kuwapani and Arya Tara can be bought through Buddha Tea Shop in Thamel, Kathmandu. buddhateanepal@gmail.com. Try mailing them directly and asking for selection and prices. Also ask them about the Jun Chiyabari. Maybe they can get some for you!

Today, I drank the Kuwapani Special 2nd flush. Smooth like a Dakini's skin. Roof of the world tea!

What I have noticed drinking the Nepali teas (Kuwapani, Arya Tara, Jun Chiyabari) is each and every one of them is very good. This is in contrast to many of the Darjeeling teas that I have tried. There are only a few Darjeeling teas I have had that match the level of the Nepali teas. I'm very impressed with what I've been drinking.

As for my favorite? This is a difficult choice, but the Kuwapani 2013 2nd flush is hard to beat.

Nepal has some really nice small estates that are making real good tea, I forget the name but there was a Japanese man who opened business in Fikal, Ilam making high quality greens. Also a nice trend I was seeing was being a fairly "new" country to the international tea trade they seem to be putting a lot of focus on quality organic and responsibly grown teas.

A big problem is that MOST of them don't have access to the internet (thus no website) and only sell the tea either locally or to large estates that mix them to create a generic product.

I met VERY few people in that part of the world that were tea connoisseurs, most drank strong black milk tea with lots of sugar. But I did encounter a few people who were very nice. I have the contact info for the owner of Kanyam estate who apparently owns a few in Darjeeling as well.

There is access to the internet in Nepal and the top estates are run by very knowledgeable people who have put a lot of money into their tea production and also have had help from East Asian tea masters. I met one of the managers of Jun Chiyabari in Darjeeling. They are not feeling their way in the dark!

In an earlier post, I mentioned my friend who met one of the owners of Jun Chiyabari in Kathmandu who told her that all their production is exported. I've heard similar stories in Darjeeling of particular gardens that were all pre-sold. Because the amount of tea that is actually produced is relatively small, importers from Japan and Germany as well as other countries, grab the bulk.

Both Darjeeling and East Nepali teas are all going organic. Most are in conversion. However, there is still only a small percentage of people that are familiar with teas from other parts of Asia and the influence of Chinese tea drinking habits have not made a foothold in the sub-continent. Most westerners are happy with Masala Chai and the Indians continue to drink their British style tea.

I think these teas will get more and more expensive in the near future. We've already seen the rise in price in the last few years.

Speaking of greens, I had the high altitude Jun Chiyabari green tea this morning. Nice and pure stuff.

Tead Off wrote:There is access to the internet in Nepal and the top estates are run by very knowledgeable people who have put a lot of money into their tea production and also have had help from East Asian tea masters. I met one of the managers of Jun Chiyabari in Darjeeling. They are not feeling their way in the dark!

In an earlier post, I mentioned my friend who met one of the owners of Jun Chiyabari in Kathmandu who told her that all their production is exported. I've heard similar stories in Darjeeling of particular gardens that were all pre-sold. Because the amount of tea that is actually produced is relatively small, importers from Japan and Germany as well as other countries, grab the bulk.

Both Darjeeling and East Nepali teas are all going organic. Most are in conversion. However, there is still only a small percentage of people that are familiar with teas from other parts of Asia and the influence of Chinese tea drinking habits have not made a foothold in the sub-continent. Most westerners are happy with Masala Chai and the Indians continue to drink their British style tea.

I think these teas will get more and more expensive in the near future. We've already seen the rise in price in the last few years.

Speaking of greens, I had the high altitude Jun Chiyabari green tea this morning. Nice and pure stuff.

Tead, I was referring to the very small estates- the larger ones that I saw were very advanced. I know there is internet in Nepal but smaller businesses don't seem to bother selling online... as you said much of the tea is exported, I was told by the owner of Kanyam that over 90% is going to other countries through wholesalers.